The Mysterious Woman with the Polka Dot Bag
by GoldenWolf25
Summary: Ruby Hartman is the new muggle studies professor from the States. She comes to Hogwarts to expand kids' minds and to help defeat Voldemort. But, does she have a secret agenda? Setting: OOTP More summary inside. *Discontinued for now*
1. September 1st

**This is a mystery story of sorts. So, I can't really tell you much about my main character, Ruby Hartman. Ruby will be the main focus, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione are shown a lot. Also, Dumbledore and Snape. There might be a little romance between Severus and Ruby. But, I'm not sure yet. Please review so I know what you guys think of this and what I can improve :)**

**I follow the 5th book's events and add my character, Ruby into the mix. I also change up some events too. I 'm really bad at trying to explain this so you better just read it. I hope you guys like it.**

**Note:Harry's thoughts are in italics.**

**Another Note: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter. I only own Ruby Hartman and whoever else I make up**

September 1st

Harry, Ron, and Hermione got on the train as it started to pull away. Harry watched as a big black dog, known as Sirius in his human form, ran alongside the train. He was barking and his tail bobbing behind him but then he was gone as the train pulled away from the platform and picked up speed.

"We should find a compartment before they are all filled," Harry said to his friends.

Ron and Hermione looked nervously at each other.

"Harry, we have to… Ron and I have to sit in the prefect compartment… I'm sorry." Hermione said looking apologetically at Harry.

"Oh… Right… Yeah, that's fine. You guys go on." Harry just remembered that his friends became prefects and he did not.

"Sorry mate. We'll see you later," Ron offered an apologetic smile at Harry.

Harry watched as they walked off. He turned and bumped into Ginny.

"Sorry," they said at the same time. Harry let out a nervous laugh to fill the awkward silence.

"I was looking for you since Ron and Hermione have to sit with the prefects; I thought that we could sit together."

"That sounds great," Harry replied to Ginny.

They went off looking for an empty compartment but they had no luck. On their quest to find a compartment they ran into Neville Longbottom who was having the same trouble as they were.

"Hey Harry, Ginny. I see that you two can't find a compartment either," he said as he held onto his pet frog, Trevor.

"What about this one," Ginny pointed to the compartment in which Neville was standing in front of.

Ginny opened the compartment and inside there were a bag on one side and a girl reading an upside down magazine, "The Quibbler", on the other. Ginny approached closer to the girl, "Hey Luna. Mind if we sit here?"

Luna lowered her magazine and dreamy looked at them. "Oh, no. But she might." She nodded her head to the empty space between the polka dot bag and window. Neville and Ginny looked questioningly at Luna, but Luna acted as if nothing was said. Harry took matters in his own hands.

"She? You mean someone else is… here?" He said wondering if the girl is mentally unstable.

"Yes… You're Harry Potter." Luna stared into Harry's emerald eyes.

"Yes, I am. Now whose stuff is this?"

"Please sit, the wrachspurts are floating around you," Luna responded smoothly.

Harry gave Ginny a "What the heck?" look. Ginny ignored Harry and preceded to sit next to Luna. Harry takes a sit across from Ginny and next to the mysterious bag. Neville sat next to Ginny and regrettably asked, "What are floating around?"

Luna looks at him as if he grew a second head. "You don't know what a wrackspurt is?" She looked at each of them and sees the confused look on their faces. She continues to explain. "Wrachspurts are invisible and can enter a wizard's mind and jumble his thoughts. They can be anywhere at any time!" She looked very serious and her eyes were big. One could tell she very much believed in this strange creature. _This creature couldn't possibly exist… right?_

Harry was pulled out of his thoughts when Ginny asked about Luna' summer. She decided to drop the subject of floating thought scramblers. Before Luna could reply, Harry interrupted.

"We would love to hear about your summer but whose bag is this?" He touched the bag next to him.

"Oh, that belongs to some lady. She was here before me and she let me sit here." She started to look at her magazine again.

"Some lady?" Harry questioned. _Maybe this 'lady' is invisible like those creatures?..._

"Yeah, I think she went to the loo. She told me to watch her stuff for her."

Harry pondered this information, which wasn't that much info. _Luna called her a 'lady'. What exactly does that mean? What qualifies a woman to be called a lady? Is she a 7__th__ year? Or does it mean she is elegant? Should I go through her bag?_ He looks at the bag. _No, that would be wrong. But what if she is a Slytherin or worst, a Voldemort follower? Wait, if she is why would she allow Luna to sit with her? Harry, you need to stop being so paranoid about everything and everyone. _

The chattering of the other three and Harry's paranoid thoughts abruptly stopped at the sound of the compartment door sliding open. Harry held his breath when the owner of the mysterious bag of secrets was revealed.

The person revealed wasn't anything Harry was expecting. Then again, he didn't know what to expect. She was definitely older than a 7th year, but she was younger than 30. She was around 5ft 5in (165cm) tall and a slim frame. She wore a beautiful dark blue dress that reached her knees and had long sleeves. The color of her dress paralleled her own color of her eyes of dark pools of blue. This gave contrast to her light skin color. Her hair was a golden brown color that fell with a slight wave to her bosoms.

She looked confused at first then expressed a smirk. "Looks like a population explosion has happened while I've been gone."

Luna opened and closed her mouth, Neville looked at the floor, Ginny was dumbfounded, and Harry just stared at her.

"It's alright. I know there aren't that many compartments," she said with a smile

She went over to her sit and sat down. She looked around at everyone and noticed their confused expressions but didn't get the hint that they were confused about her. "What's wrong?"

"Not to be rude, but we have no idea who you are or why you are on this train." Ginny's attempt to sound strong but it came out to meekly.

"That's right," the lady's eyes lit up because now she knows what's going on. "I'm Ruby Hartman and I'm the new muggle studies professor from the States." She smiled at them.

Ginny immediately diverted her eyes to a spot on the floor, feeling ashamed that she talked to a professor in such a way. Neville looked shell shocked and Luna had that dreamy faraway look, again. Harry just studied her.

Feeling the awkwardness, Ruby explained to Ginny, "Hey, don't feel bad about your question. I would have done the same thing. Anyway, I like when students ask questions." Ginny looked up at her. Ruby gave her a reassuring smile and added, "As long as they aren't stupid questions." She exposed a bigger smile and nodded to her own statement. Ginny smiled back and felt more relax.

"Well… Are any of you taking muggle studies?" Ruby questioned.

"Yup" and a "Yes, ma" resounded from Ginny and Neville. Luna said she wasn't taking muggle studies because she is taking divination and ancient runes instead. They all look to Harry because he was the only one that didn't answer.

"Yeah…" He sounded disappointed. "Hermione thought it would be a good idea and she is very persistent."

"Don't sound so down. Maybe the professor before me was boring and had irrelevant assignments and facts to memorize but trust me, my class will be anything but boring… I hope. We'll see." Ruby told Harry and others.

"What do you have planned?" Harry asked.

"That's a secret for now. Don't worry, it will all be revealed on the first day. But, I can tell you, my class is going to be unlike your other classes." She looked quite serious when unfolding this information.

"Well, I'm going to read my book and listen to music. You can talk amongst yourself. Don't worry; I wouldn't be able to hear what you guys are saying with my headphones in." Ruby opened her bag and pulled out a book and what looked to the others, a strange square like device with white thread coming out of it in which she stuck each end in each ear. But to a non-magical folk, it is known as an iPod.

The four students, well three, Luna was too engrossed with her magazine, gave each other the look that said "What just happened here?" They look back at Ruby, or Professor Hartman, and she is tapping her foot along with the noise coming from the device and reading her book. Harry caught the title _Fahrenheit 451_. _"Must be a muggle book" _Harry thought.

The four of them talked about their summer and about how they hope classes will go. They tried to ignore the woman reading a muggle book, listening to an unknown device, and resting her right elbow on her polka dot bag of mysteries.


	2. July 15th

**Here is some background about Ruby. Her thoughts are italics.**

July 15th

Ruby Hartman made the journey from somewhere (?) USA to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She is waiting for Professor Dumbledore to show up for their meeting. She was admiring and fascinated by the moving portraits on the walls. She looked closer at a portrait of a man reading a parchment. She was trying to figure out how these portraits worked. How can there be such realistic look and movement.

"What are you staring at girly?" The man that she was staring at looked down at her with his spectacles down his nose with parchment in hand, remarked rudely at her.

Ruby was flabbergasted. She had no idea how to respond to a moving, talking, and possibly living portrait. She did the next best thing, look wide eyed and back away slowly. In doing so she bumped into something solid. "Oh!" She exclaimed. She spun around quickly to see what she bumped into.

"Phineas, what did I tell you about being rude to guest?" The man in the portrait just "huffed" angrily.

"Sorry about that Miss Hartman. Phineas can be rude at times," the man said glancing at the portrait and then back to her. "I'm Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts." He leaned forward slightly towards her and extended his hand.

"Nice meeting you, Headmaster." She returned his handshake.

They released hands. "I never seen anything like it." She looked in the direction of the many portraits.

"What's that?" She motioned towards the wall. "Ah, yes. Those are the portraits of all the former headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts."

"Really? But how do they move and talk?"

Dumbledore had a pleasing smile when he explained about why these portraits are here, in his office, and how they are able to move and interact with people. Ruby was amazed, yet creeped out. _I wouldn't want portraits people watching my every move!_

"Come, let's sit down." Dumbledore ushered her towards his desk.

She sat down and was offered a lemon drop. She politely said "No thanks". She never really likes hard candy except peppermints.

"So, you are from a place where you don't have moving pictures and portraits?" Dumbledore sat down.

"No sir. Just non moving pictures. We can make home videos which are moving pictures with sounds."

"Interesting…" He stroked his beard. "Well, let's get down to business shall we? You are here to discuss filling one of the teaching positions."

"That's right. I would like to fill the muggle studies position if it is still available." She told him.

"It is, but before I hire you I would like to know you better. You're American, correct?"

"Yes."

"Where do you hail? Salem?"

"No… I wish not to tell you." Dumbledore didn't show any signs of being taken aback. He just listens with his pleasant smile. Ruby moved to the edge of her chair. "You see, I'm from a small wizardry village. No one knows about us because we are good at keeping to ourselves and secrets. So, I wish to keep it that way. Do you understand what I mean?"

Dumbledore didn't answer right away. When he did he said, "I understand you would want to protect your homeland." His glaze bore into her.

"So you're okay with me not telling you?" _It can't be this easy?_

"It's your secret to keep Miss Hartman. I can tell you have a truly good spirit."

Ruby was shock in what she was hearing. She was expecting to have to argue and explain things to no end and then be rejected. _This is too easy. There must be a catch. Why is he looking at me like that with that grin? I wonder if he just lets any "truly good spirit" looking person a job without proper examining with questions and looking through a resume._

"I don't understand how you can be okay without knowing anything about me and hiring me because I look like I have a good spirit. I don't get it" she said looking puzzled.

"Is there a reason why I shouldn't hire you?"

"No. I'm just saying…" her voice trailed off.

"I understand. But what I figure is in due time you will tell me. If you weren't here for good intentions you wouldn't be so concerned about me hiring you so quickly." His eyes twinkling at her. _Hmmm. He's got a point._

"Tell me Miss Hartman. If you are from such a secretive place, why are you here seeking a job?"

"That's a good question. Well, I love teaching and I thought I could open students' minds to issues and ideas they never heard before. Maybe help unlock some creativity that is in them. Because, with all due respect sir, Hogwarts doesn't really do that. Plus, I like challenges and I wanted to try something new."

"Is that so?"

"Yes… And I think I could possibly help with the problem you guys face."

"And what problem is that, Miss Hartman?"

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Name," she replied.

He looked at her puzzled. "How are you going to help us?"

"Where I am from we have different strategies and also have spells and potions that could help you guys get the upper hand over this man that doesn't have a name."

"Really? Care to explain more?"

"We, my people, don't need wands to use magic. So, I think that gave us abilities to create more powerful spells. Also, because nothing really exciting happens in our village so we spend hours thinking of new spells and potions."

"That's extraordinary. Do continue."

"Umm… What do you want to know?"

"Anything that you wish to tell me, but I think this will do for today," Dumbledore said.

"Okay," she stood up and as well as Dumbledore. "Thank you for the job. Do you want to meet again to discuss what I have to offer?"

"Yes, that would be good."

They schedule another meeting for which Ruby would discuss what she thinks will help them fight back Voldemort and his death eaters.

They said goodbye and Ruby left. Dumbledore is alone with his thoughts to mill over what he just heard. This would be great for the Order if she had information that would be useful to them.

Also, he wonders about this place she is from. He remembers hearing a story, a legend, about a group of wizards that were oppress from the rest of the magical group so they started to keep to themselves. These people, according to the legend, built an advance civilization. The legend says they are more advance than any other wizardry civilization and that they are waiting for their chance to take over the other wizardry worlds and possibly the entire world. But, it's just a legend. And Dumbledore is sure this isn't what is happening. If they wanted to take over they would send an army, not a young woman. Plus, they wouldn't be sharing their secrets with outsiders.

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**Hope you enjoyed Chapter 2 :) Tell me what you think in the review section.**


	3. September 1st Continued

**I'm kind of sad that no one has review yet. But, I understand that this story, even though it's 3 chapters long so far, has gone slowly. Its just how I write; I like details. **

**This chapter is a continuation of the 1st one. It follows Chapter 10 from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix so I took some text and the events from the chapter. I added my own stamp and changed and added conversations. So, please don't over look it because I'll know you will enjoy :) (Harry's thoughts in italics. I love writing Harry's thoughts for some reason) **

**Note: J.K. Rowling written and owns the lovely book Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but I own Ruby.**

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Continue Sept 1

Time tick by while Luna, Ginny, Neville, and Harry talked and Ruby Hartman engaged in her own world. It was strange to Harry that a professor would be riding with the students but then again, Professor Lupin did in his third year. Something about her didn't sit right. Was it her weird behavior of using a muggle noise device or how easily she could ignore them? Or maybe she was really observing them. Could she be working for Voldemort? _This whole Voldemort coming back is screwing with my mind and making me paranoid about every new person I meet._

The train charged on and Harry realized how hard it was to concentrate on what Ginny and Neville were discussing over his thoughts of paranoid and loss. That's when he glances over at Luna and caught the titles of some of the articles. The title that how was most concerned was "Sirius Black: Villain or Victim?"

"Luna, can I see your magazine?" Harry asked.

She handed it over and Harry opened to the article's page. The article title read "Sirius- Black as He's Painted? Notorious Mass Murderer or Innocent Singing Sensation?" _What? I have to read more._

He read the article. It implied that Sirius Black is really the lead singer of the Hobgoblins, Stubby Boardman. _Is this magazine on drugs?_

The compartment door slid open to revealed Hermione and Ron.

"We've been looking all over for you. Did you have to sit in the last…?" Ron was cut off by Hermione, but also cut off because he noticed Ruby.

"Harry, why are you reading that? It's a bunch of rubbish!" Hermione stated.

"Hey!" Luna shouted angrily. "My father is the editor! And it's not rubbish, its brilliant!" She took back the magazine flipping it back to the page she was reading earlier.

Hermione looked stunned and was at a loss of words. This never happens so it was surprising.

"You learn something new every day. I guess…" Ginny said to fill the empty air.

"You guys should sit. It's making me nervous." Neville fidget.

Ron sat next to Neville and Hermione next to Harry. Ron was eyeing the woman next to Harry and Hermione was looking at her from the corner of her eye.

"She's the new muggle studies professor," Ginny said. Ron nodded and still eyed the new professor strangely. "She can't hear us, at least that what she said. Anyway, I think she is too absorbed in her book to notice anything."

"What's that coming out of her ears!" Ron looked horrified.

Hermione looked over at Ruby and then back at Ron. "Those are earphones for listening to music."

Ron still looked slightly disturbed. "So… It's a telephone for the ears!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "No, Ron. It's not a phone for just the ears. They continue to an iPod, a device for music to play, and the music from the iPod goes through the wires into the earphone to the ear where that person can hear the music without disturbing others." She said in a matter of fact way.

Ron was still looking at Hermione like she was crazy, but decided to give up. _I can't understand half the things she says_, Ron thought.

"We are almost at the school, we should probably get changed." Neville said timidly. He was right, thirty minutes from arriving and they were still in their muggle clothing.

"Good idea," Ron added. Still thinking about those instruments that Ruby had latched to her ear drums.

They all left to get dressed leaving Ruby behind engross in her book.

Few minutes later:

Harry was done changing. He was making his way back to the compartment when he caught sight of Malfoy and his goonies. _Great way to start the year…_ Harry kept his heading towards the compartment; he wasn't in the mood to deal with Malfoy.

He reached the handle of the compartment and slid it open 1/3 of the way when Malfoy caught up with him.

"Potter."

"What?" Harry said in an annoying and aggressive way.

"Better watch your tone, Potter. I can give you a detention for that." Malfoy stepped closer to Harry.

Harry just glared at Malfoy.

"How does it feel to be in Weasley's shadow now Potter?" He smirked, stepping closer. Now they were a foot apart.

"Bugger off Malfoy!"

"Is there a problem boys?" Both boys jerk their heads to see who said it. They found Ruby holding one of her earphones in her hand looking at them. "Well?"

Malfoy looked her up and down, smirked, and then looked at Harry.

"Watch yourself Potter, because I'll be _dogging_ your footsteps in case you step out of line" (194). He put emphasis on "dogging". He slithered away with his people following.

Harry watched Malfoy walk away. He was feeling his blood boiling, but also his blood freezing. _Dogging? Does he know about Sirius? Or was it just a figure of speech? Is Malfoy even smart enough to use a figure of speech? Oh my merlin! Am I sweating?_

"Hey kid, get in here," Ruby said.

Harry came and sat back down next to Ruby.

"You okay?"

Harry looked at her weird. "Yeah."

"Are you sure? You look pale."

Harry couldn't think of a good response so he looks to the floor.

"I take it you and Blondie don't get along."

Harry smiled in reaction to Malfoy's nickname. "No, we don't. It's always been like that."

"That's sad." She gave him a sad smile. "So, what did he say that was so shocking? Was it how he doesn't understand personal space? Or that he was being a creeper with the whole 'dogging your footsteps' stuff?"

He looked from the floor to her eyes and froze like a deer in headlights at the word 'dogging'. _Get a grip!_

Before Harry could think of a reply, Neville and Ron returned.

"Of course the girls wouldn't be back yet," Ron said jokingly. He was smiling at his comment. The smile was wiped off his face when he noticed that the woman with strange things in her ears had removed them and was staring at him.

Ruby gave him a generic smile and a wave. "Hi there."

Then Luna and Ginny returned.

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked.

"I don't know? She was done changing before us and left. She should have been here," Ginny told.

Harry got a sinking feeling inside. _What if Malfoy got to her?_ Before Harry could think more horrible thoughts, Hermione walks in.

"Where did you go?" Luna asked as Hermione sat down.

"Oh. There were a couple of second years horsing around."

"We aren't even to Hogwarts and you are already disciplining kids,' Ron commented.

"Yes, Ronald. We are prefects; it's our job to keep the student body in line." Hermione was becoming annoyed.

"She's right." Neville spoke up. Ron gave him a sideways glare. "We'll she is..." Neville started to fiddle with his tie.

Ruby shut her book and placed it in her polka dot bag. "We'll be arriving soon."

At that moment, the train came to a halt at the platform. The teenagers found her knowing precisely when the train was stopping eerie because it was always hard to judge when the train was stopping. It would stop oh so suddenly.

"I guess I'll be seeing you guys later." Ruby took her stuff and left in a flash.

"Well, that was weird." Ron stood up and looked at himself in the window. Probably admiring his prefect badge.

"We have to go supervise. See you guys later." Hermione and Ron departed, leaving the four remaining people to gather their own stuff as well as Crookshanks and Pidwidgeon.

Once they had everything organized, they hopped off the train. Harry was anticipating hearing the voice of the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Hagrid, herding the first years. But instead, he heard a female voice. Professor Grubbly-Plank.

"Where's Hagrid?" Harry questioned outloud.

"I don't know. We better keep moving," Ginny answered.

As they walked, Harry thought. _He couldn't have been fired or quit. He's probably just sick. I wonder if Ron and Hermione know what happened to him._

They reached the carriages. _That's strange._ Harry thought as he stared at the animals hitched to the carriages. _What are these things!_ They looked like nothing Harry has ever seen. They were horses yet they looked like reptiles with a head like a dragon. You could see all their bones through their black skin. He was memorized by these creatures and wondered why no one else was.

"Look at those creatures! What do you think they are?" Harry asked in awe.

"What are you talking about mate?" Ron gave him a strange look as he walked towards him.

"The things hitched to the carriages!" Harry was getting annoyed and wondered why Ron was doing this to him.

"There's nothing there. The carriages pull themselves." Ron looked at Harry. "Are you ok?"

Harry blankly stared at Ron. _Why is he doing this to me? Is this some kind of sick joke to make me feel like I'm going crazy? Well, it's working…_

"You're not crazy," a voice said behind him. He turns to find Luna. _Luna can read my thought? Scary…_ "I can see them too."

_This isn't comforting,_ Harry thought.

"Can you?" Harry asked Luna.

"Oh, yes. I've been able to see them since my first day here. They've always pulled the carriages. Don't worry. You're just as sane as I am" (199).

_This is interesting, but still not comforting._

"Come on! Let's get a carriage," Hermione said.

They climbed in and began the journey to the school. Harry was still a bit freaked out that he and Luna could see the same thing while Ron could not. But, as they drew near the castle, Harry was interesting in seeing if there was life at Hagrid's cabin. Harry peered out the window and to his dismay there wasn't a single light on at Hagrid's place.

_First, there are creepy horses like creatures that are pulling this carriage. Second, only Luna and I can see the creepy, ugly things. Third, Hagrid is missing! What else could happen!_

**Narrator to Harry's thoughts**: **_Oh, a lot more will happen, Harry. You shouldn't ask what else could happen because shit then does happen and it sucks! So shut up you paranoid freak of nature!_**

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**I thought my comment to Harry was necessary. haha. Well, tell me your thoughts. What you liked, what you didn't like, or anything you would want me to add or take out. I would love to hear from you readers :D**


	4. August 1st

**Another flashback. I think you will like this one because it has Severus Snape in it :) Also, has a new mysterious character. Enjoy!**

**Again, Ruby's thoughts are italic and a spells are bolded and italic.**

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August 1st

The time between June 15th and August 1st were taken up with letters between Professor Dumbledore and Ruby. They were about Hogwarts and what was required of her as a teacher there. Dumbledore sent her the material which was just a book with the title Muggles: What are they?. _Really? _Ruby thought. _I have to teach this garbage? And how sad is it that the students must endure this pile of horse shit._

Ruby was determined to make the muggle studies material more bearable. She invested a lot of time on her lesson plans. She had most of her lessons completed by the time she met with Dumbledore again.

She arrived at Hogwarts and entered Headmaster Dumbledore's office. Unlike their first meeting Dumbledore was there to greet her instead of the creepy portraits.

"Good afternoon, Miss Hartman." Dumbledore shook her hand.

"Good afternoon to you too, sir."

"Would you like a sherbet lemon?" He held out the candy dish.

She looked at the dish. "Umm, no thank you." He placed the dish down. "Not to be rude, but could we get down to business. I have some family affairs to take care of later."

"I don't see that as rude, but of leadership. You will make a great addition to the staff. Let's begin.

He took a seat at his desk and Ruby followed and took her seat as well. There was an awkward silence_. Oh, I do hate long awkward periods of silence! Should I be the one to break it?_ Dumbledore gave her a cheerful look. _I guess I have to._

"I don't know where to begin, sir…"

"Maybe starting at the beginning would do." He smiled

"Obviously," Ruby said under her breath.

"Hmmm?" Dumbledore leaned an ear to hear her better.

She came up with a smile. "Yes, that would do." She looked through her polka dot bag and pulled a book out and handed it to Dumbledore.

He took it. "What is this?"

"It has the spells and potions that could be useful. I wrote out their descriptions and how to perform each one in detail. I thought it would be a helpful guide."

"This is extraordinary, Miss Hartman. But, I would still like to hear and see these spells form you."

'Yes, professor. I was planning on showing you. I just thought you would want a written version as well." She smiles.

"That's very thoughtful. Which spell will you start with?"

"Let's start with the spell, elbmuj. This spell jumbles the speech of the person you cast it on. It could also scramble the thoughts too. But, sometimes it doesn't affect a person's thoughts. It depends on the execution."

"Interesting."

"You execute it by waving your wand left to right twice. Then point your wand at the person's mouth." Dumbledore looked at her through his half moon spectacles. "I wish I had a wand to show you."

"Yes, that would be handy. That brings up a question of mine, will these spells work because you said in your previous meeting that you and your people don't require wands."

"That is true, sir. That is why I modified each one and made changes on execution to fit your magical style."

Dumbledore stroked his long beard.

Ruby went searching through her polka dot bag and pulled out a stick fashioned like a wand. "This will do." She said more to herself than to Dumbledore.

She stood up. "Okay, then. I'm going to show you how it is done and then you try it."

She waved the stick wand side to side, left to right, twice. Then pointed the wand at Dumbledore's mouth and said _elbmuj_. "And that's how it is done."

She stood awkwardly, fiddling with the stick nervously. She started at Dumbledore. _I hate how he does these long periods of silence. Plus, I hate how he sits quietly, staring at me with that stupid grin. It's kind of creepy…_

"Would you like a try, professor?"

"No, no. That won't be necessary. I'll try them out later."

"Are you sure? I mean, I can help you out if you have any difficulties." She tried not to sound too pushy or awkward.

"I will be fine." He saw the worried look on her face. "If I have any issues I will owl you or I can wait till you return in September."

She didn't really like the idea. "I guess so. I'm, worried because I just fix the spells to work for you magical preferences here. I'm not entirely sure if the spells will work properly."

"We'll worry about that later. What other intriguing spells do you have?"

"This spell you will find intriguing and very useful. The person you cast this spell on, every spell they try to cast will rebound onto themselves." She paused. "Oh, and the spell is called _**volvert**_. And no fancy wand wavingness."

Dumbledore was beyond amazed. Just the two spells she explained could cripple the opposition. Think of how fast Death Eaters, possibly Voldemort, would go down. What an exciting feeling.

She went on to explain more advance stunning spells, creative ways to make your opponent violently sick, and healing spells and potions.

"This is a great spell for defense. It gives you a shield that encircles you and prevents you from getting hit by spells. And I call this spell, _**360**_."

Dumbledore gave her a questioning look that read, "Really, _**360**_?"

"What? I couldn't think of a cool name."

"That's alright. Not every spell has a cool name." He had a hint of amusement in his eyes.

_Did Dumbledore just say cool?... Awesome!_

"I understand that you have helpful potions as well."

Ruby was trying to get over the shock of Dumbledore saying 'cool'. "Oh, yeah. There is a potion that can heighten one of your five senses."

"How does that work?"

"Well, you start with one cup of…"

Dumbledore interrupted, politely. "Never mind. You can talk potions with Professor Snape.

"Umm… Okay." She didn't know what else to say.

"Miss Hartman, thank you for these helpful spells and potions. This could really help in defeating Voldemort."

"Your welcome, sir. Even though my village doesn't want to be directly involved in this situation, we still wanted to contribute somehow."

Dumbledore nodded and pause. "Would you consider joining the Order of the Phoenix?"

"The what?" First he says the word 'cool'. _Now he wants me to join a group about a phoenix. I'm so confuses._

"I must have forgotten to tell you about it. The Order of the Phoenix is a secret group of people willing to devote their time, effort, and even their lives to taking out Voldemort and his followers."

One word ran through Ruby's head: what? _Is Dumbledore on drugs or did he forget to take his drugs?_ "I don't know. It's a lot to take in."

"You would be a big help to the Order. But, what you gave," he touched the book of spells and potions, "is already enough." He gave her a sweet smile.

_He's trying to guilty trip me. It's not going to work. _"You know what. I'll join this Order of the Phoenix." _Damn you mouth! Don't you listen to what I am transmitting to you?_

"Excellent. I'll fill you in more later. I remember you telling me you have important family business to take care of."

"That's right." She stood up. "I guess I will hear from you later."

Dumbledore stood up. "Yes, you will Miss Hartman or I should be saying _Professor _Hartman."

She let out a laugh. _He is adorable._ "Goodbye, Professor."

"Goodbye."

**One hour later: Dumbledore's office**

Professor Severus Snape was sited across from Professor Dumbledore. He arrived to his office after Ruby left ten minutes earlier. Dumbledore wanted to share these new spells and potions with his trusted potions master. They both tried out the spells once Snape was informed. The spells were a success. Dumbledore casted _**volvert **_on Severus without telling him what it does. Professor Snape was confused because nothing happened.

"Disarm me," Dumbledore commanded.

_This can't be good,_ Snape thought. "What will happen if I do?"

"Just trust me."

Severus had to roll his dark marble eyes at that. _He always wants me to trust him without question. He knows I hate that._ Snape looked at Dumbledore and finally gave in. "_**Expelliarmus**_."

Instead of Dumbledore's wand flying across the room, it was Severus' wand. Snape was beyond confused and wonder. He gave Dumbledore a questioning look.

Albus decided to rid Severus of his misery by explaining the spell to him. Before he did so, he removed the spell with the word '_**Fin**_'.

Now they find themselves sitting across from each other discussing this. Albus handed him the journal filled with spells and potions unheard of to Severus. He did find all the potions the most interesting with their complex brewing methods. Though, they seem to have the simplest ideas. Such as the potion that would heighten one of the five senses or the potion that would become more like a cream and when placed over an open or scabbed would heal it instantly. Severus was fascinated and couldn't help but become anxious to meet this young woman.

But, he did have his doubts. It was like Lupin all over again. Severus knew that this woman must have a secret agenda. But, of course, Dumbledore will blindly trust a person he has only met twice.

He was even more appalled when he was told that she accepted to join the Order. "She could be a spy."

"Like how you are a spy too, Severus." Dumbledore gave him a kind look. "You could tell Voldemort everything that the Order was doing and hand Mr. Potter over. But you haven't and you won't."

"This is completely different. You don't know her. You don't even know where she is from because she won't tell. How can you trust someone who won't tell you a simple fact of where she is from?"

"She explained to me that she is from a small magical village in the States that doesn't want to be directly involved with the war."

"Her village doesn't want to be directly involved but yet she agrees to be in the Order. I find it hard to believe. She has to have an alternative reason for being here other than bringing 'creativity to Hogwarts'." Snape snarled. _Stupid excuse, bringing creativity._

"Severus, be reasonable. Miss Hartman isn't plotting against us. She will be a professor here and I want you to behave."

Severus looked to the floor pissed. There was no use in arguing with Dumbledore. He always thinks he is right.

"Fine," Severus said like he has tasted something bitter.

Dumbledore smiled at Severus. "Thank you, Severus."

**Five minutes after Ruby left Dumbledore's office: Location-Mysterious American magical village.**

A man in a brown suit sat at his desk in his moderately large office. He was reading over an important document sent to him earlier. He read it four times already. He was meticulous and never overlooks a detail. So, reading a seven page document up to five times is common place with him.

*Knock, knock*

"Come in."  
The visitor entered and shut the door behind them. The man in the brown suit looked up from his document and removed his reading glasses.

"I thought it would be you. You are back soon."

The visitor sat down.

"Did you give him the book?" The man asked.

"Yes, he didn't want to try out the spells. But, he said he will contact me if he has any problems."

The man chuckled. "We don't need to worry about that, do we Ruby?"

"No, we don't." Ruby paused. "He invited me to join a secret organization called the Order of the Phoenix…" She was cut off by the man.

"You accepted of course?"

"Yes, why wouldn't I? It will help our cause."

"Indeed. The more the information, the better. It seems our plan is working just fine." The mysterious man in brown smiled.

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**Uh oh! Wonder what this is all about? Hope you found this chapter interesting because I do. Please Review and tell me your thoughts.**


	5. The Rest of September 1st

**Just moved back into college yesterday. I like my new roommates. But, unfortunatly I became ill, as in I vomited... twice. Not fun! Today I feel A LOT better :)**

**So, this is the last chapter of Sept 1st! YAY! This is a great chapter because there is more Severus Snape ;)**

**It starts with Harry's thoughts italics and then switches over to Ruby's thoughts in italics. I let you know when that happens. I took the events that happen here from Chapter 11 of OOTP. I have word for word what Professor Dumbledore and Professor Umbridge say from the book. Some paraphasing. Sadly, JK Rowling owns those parts, the characters, and the books. I only own Ruby, mysterious brown suit guy, and my idea of what is going on. **

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**The rest of September 1****st**

The horse like creature stopped in front of the school entrance. Harry and his friends exited the carriage and made their way inside the school. Harry looked back at the weird creature wondering why he and Luna could see them but Ron and the others could not.

They entered the Great Hall that shined honorably with its ceiling that reflected the weather outside. Luna said 'bye' to the Gryffindors and went off to the Ravenclaw table. Harry looked around the Hall as the Gryffindors made their way to their own table. He noted that several students were whispering about him. _Don't they have anything better to talk about?_

Harry, Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Ron took their seats. Harry scanned the staff table.

"Hagrid isn't there."

Hermione and Ron look across the staff table and didn't see the half-giant.

"Maybe he is sick… or hurt?" Hermione said uneasily.

"No," said Harry instantly.

"But where is he then?"

"Maybe he's not back yet. You know- from his mission- the thing he was doing over the summer for Dumbledore." Harry said quietly so that only Ron and Hermione heard.

'Right…" Ron said looking back at the staff table. "Hey, that strange woman in our compartment is sitting up there." Ron stated to the other two.

Harry looked up. He spotted her to Dumbledore's right. There was an empty seat between them. _That seat is probably for Professor McGonagall_. Next to her was Professor Sprout. They seem to be having a pleasant conversion.

Hermione spotted her too. She's the new Muggle Studied professor. I don't believe she gave us her name."

"Hartman, Ruby Hartman is her name." Harry told them. He added, "She introduced herself before she started reading. She's from the States."

"She must be something special for Dumbledore to hire," Hermione said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there's never been a non-European teacher. I mean, there have been professors from Ireland, Scotland, England, and Belgium. But, there's never been a professor from France and Norway, which is where the other larger magical schools are located. So, why hire an American witch?"

"How do you know that?" Ron looked dumbfounded.

She looked at Ron. "Hogwarts, a History." Then without missing a beat she said. "Did she say anything else, Harry?"

"No, nothing really. Just that she's the new Muggle Studies professor and that her class won't be boring and it will be unlike any other class."

"Hmm…" Hermione looked thoughtful.

"Who's that?" Ron asked. He saw that neither Harry nor Hermione knew what he was talking about. "The one that looks like a toad in pink."

_Toad looking? That sounds familiar._ Then he saw her. She was sitting to the left side of Dumbledore. He couldn't forget such a weird looking person wither pink bow in her hair and toad face.

"It's the Umbridge woman."

"Who?" asked Hermione.

"She was at my hearing. She works for Fudge!"

"She works for Fudge? What on earth's she doing her then?" Hermione frowned.

"Dunno…"

Hermione scanned the staff table again while muttering, "No, surely not."

_I hope Hermione hadn't lost it._

Professor Grubbly-Plank returned to the staff table and Professor McGonagall entered the Great Hall with first years in tow.

The sorting hat resound its song of warning. Then the sorting began.

**Viewing what's going on through Ruby's eyes. Still in third Person with her thoughts **_**italics:**_

_I am so nervous!_ Is all that Ruby Hartman could think about. She's never been this nervous. Then again, she has never been in this situation before. It has always been nerve-racking for her to meet new people and transition to a new environment.

A plump woman with unruly gray hair sticking out from her patched hat sat next to her and welcomed her to Hogwarts. The woman introduced herself as Professor Sprout, Head of Hufflepuff and that she teaches herbology. Ruby questioned her about teaching herbology at Hogwarts. _This is better than her asking me annoying questions._

Ruby harbored a secret from kind Professor Sprout. That secret is that she hates Herbology. _I like to look at plants and I'm glad for the benefits they give us, but that's all I care about. I don't need to know of their inner workings._ She politely listens to Sprout and gave her two cent once in awhile.

While Sprout talked, Ruby noticed an old hat sitting on a stool in front of the staff table. _What's that shabby old hat doing out? Is it for decoration or symbol? These people are so weird._ But all of a sudden the hat started to talk. _What the…!_ The hat performed a song about unity. _The hat is pretty good. But, times must be bad for a hat to give a warning, let alone talk in general. _

Ruby finally realized that the hat is used to sort new students when Professor McGonagall escorted first years in. Ruby was fascinated each time the hat was placed on an eleven year old's head because it would shout out their house they belong to.

After the sorting was dong, Dumbledore said, "Welcome back… [Blah, blah]… Tuck in!" Then food appeared on everyone's plates. _Neat. _It was neat how the food appeared out of thin air but what was not neat was the food that appeared on her plate. _Yum… Steak and kidney pie… not my favorite._ Later, Ruby decided steak and kidney pie wasn't too bad.

Once everyone had their fill, Dumbledore stood up to make his speech. He told the students that the forest is out of bounds to students and that Mr. Filch wants to remind all students that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes. Also, Filch had a whole lot of other stuff he deems as bad posted to his door. _I guess he never has fun, or a life._

Next, Professor Dumbledore introduced the new professors. "We are pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons." He paused for a second or two. "We have a new Muggle Studies professor from the United States, Professor Hartman." Ruby smiled at the students and gave a wave. _Can I look any dumber? Quit waving!_ "We are also delighted to introduced Professor Umbridge, our new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher."

There was a round of applause. Dumbledore continued, "Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams take place on the –".

He broke off. Ruby was confused by this. She noticed Dumbledor looking at Professor Umbridge. Then she heard the pink cardigan wearing woman, "Hem, hem." Umbridge was on her feet and looked as if she wanted to speak.

Dumbledore sat down to allow Umbridge the floor. Everyone looked utterly surprise, except for Dumbledore. Even Ruby was surprise. _How disrespectful can you get? She could have waited till Dumbledore was finished. _

"Thank you, Headmaster," Umbridge said, "for those kind words of welcome."

Ruby rolled her eyes. _What an annoying voice_. Umbridge spoke in a high-pitch girlish voice. She cleared her throat.

"Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. "And to see such happy little faces looking back at me!"

_Is she hallucinating? It looks like everyone is frowning, not smiling._

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"

Ruby saw students snickering. _I hope she doesn't get buddy buddy with me. She is slightly creepy and a lot annoying._

She cleared her throat and sounded more business like when she continued on. She said that the Ministry of Magic believes that education is very important. That the "gift" that they were born with needs to be nurtured. The skills for magic need to be passed down or they will be lost. _Duh! I hope the rest of the professors aren't this stupid._

Umbridge cleared her throat, again. _If she does that one more time, she will have hell to pay._ Ruby narrowed her eyes slightly when she thought that.

Umbridge goes on to say if there is no progress in school then there will be stagnation and decay. Then she said something about balancing old and new, change, tradition, etc. Ruby lost her interest in listening. She liked seeing the kids' reactions to this dump of words. Ruby saw a blond girl start reading a magazine and many others were whispering amongst themselves.

But, instead of getting a clue from the restlessness of students, Umbridge keeps going. Ruby decided to listen to Umbridge's big finish. She was glad she did because it seemed to show the woman's true agenda.

"…because some changes will be for the better, while other will come in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, them into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting find practices that ought to be prohibited."

She finally sat down. Dumbledore clapped. _What would he clap for such a boring speech with a horrible message!_ Ruby looked over at Umbridge, Umbridge had a smug look on her face. _I am defiantly not going to get along with this woman. Well, I don't think we will see much of each other. Thank goodness!_

Dumbledore dismissed the students. They all seemed happy to get out of the Great Hall. _I don't blame them; I want to get as far away from that woman as I can. _Ruby got up from her chair and realized she had no idea where her room is. Since she came on the Hogwarts Express, she had no time to find where her room is located.

It seemed that Dumbledore read her mind. "Severus, will you show Professor Hartman where her room is located?" Dumbledore gave a cheery grin at Severus and Ruby and then strolled out of the Great Hall

Ruby watched Dumbledore's robes disappear from the room and wondered why he couldn't show her where it is. She looked to the man that will guide her. He is tall, with a large hooked nose and black hair that hanged to his shoulders. He has white pasty skin that is in contrast with his black robes and dark eyes. His dark eyes were boring in her lazily.

"Are you going to stand there all night or shall I show you to your room?" he said annoyed like.

"Showing me where my room is would be great." She tried to sound polite.

He gave her a sideways glance, and then marched ahead of her. Ruby was taken aback by his behave, but quickly caught up with him. _How rude! He could at least introduce himself._

They started their ascend up the main staircase. Severus spoke up, "Your classroom is on the first floor." They reached the first floor landing. "It's to the left a ways." They continued their journey. _Crap! I forgot, I don't know where my classroom is. That's a big problem. I love being lost in a huge castle…_

They climbed more stairs to the second floor and made their way through the hall way. "Your office and living space is on this floor. This door is your office." He pointed a long finger to a door on the left.

"Okay…" Ruby didn't know how else to respond.

He abruptly stopped. Ruby nearly knocked into him. He gave her a strange look and said, "This portrait is the door to your living space. You use a password to gain access."

Ruby nodded. "Thank you for showing me, umm… I don't believe I caught your name."

"Professor Severus Snape, Head of Slytherin and Potions Master." He said in a matter of fact way.

Ruby's eyes lit up. "You're the Potions professor. I guess that's why Professor Dumbledore wanted you to show me the way." She flashed a smile.

Snape titled his head slightly. "I don't understand what you mean."

"Of course you don't." She realized that what she said came out wrong. _Can I sound any stupider? _"What I mean is that Potions is my favorite magical subject and so I know a lot about it." _I am stupid! _"Erase what you just heard. What I am trying to say is that I have a bunch of potions that my village has made up or that they are similar to you guys' here but different ways to brew them. So, I was thinking if you don't mind, that sometime we could discuss this."" She held her tongue. She didn't want to babble on and make herself look even more foolish.

He gave her a thoughtful look and said, "I suppose that would be reasonable. We'll discuss this later. It's getting late and of course you know classes start tomorrow." He gave her one final look and then walked off with his cloak bellowing behind him.

_Wow, these teachers here need attitude changes. At least he wasn't too rude…_

She turned her attention to her door, or really portrait. It was beautiful. It showed a starry night, the stars twinkling. Below the stars was a field of some kind. The field was gentle moving with the wind. Also, in the corner, almost hidden, was a red fox sniffing around.

Ruby admired it for a short while till she realized she had a lot to accomplish. She made a password and hurried inside.

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**I hope you guys liked it. I wish you guys would review my story so I actually know if you like it or not. You can even just write: "Good" or "it sucks". I would kind of want more information to why it sucks so I could fix it. Did you like how I wrote Severus? I tried to keep with his personality. **

**I've written one more chapter to this and if I don't get any reviews for this chapter or the next, I'm going to stop writing this story and move on. It will be a slow moving on because I start school Monday and I'm taking some tough classes :( oh, well. We'll see. Have a good day :D**


	6. September 2nd

**Hey all! Thank you for the reviews AslanEyes, watergoddessskasey, and Jemennuie. You guys made my day :) I know my grammer isn't the greatest, so if you send me a message through the messages and tell me where these mistakes happened I would appreciate it. I want to: 1. fix them and 2. learn not to do it again. I'm writing this story because I had this type of story in my head for a long time and I want to improve my story writing ability. **

**Some of the events and conversations are from Chapter 12 of OOTP by JK Rowling. Again, Harry's thoughts are italics. **

**Hope you guys enjoy Harry's first day of class and Ruby Hartman's first day of teaching.**

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**September 2nd **

Harry woke and instantly remembers the spat between Seamus and him. He did his best to ignore it as he dressed. _This will not ruin my day!_

Ron and Harry met up with Hermione in the common room and went off to breakfast together. They chatted as they reached the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table. That's when a girl named Angelina marched up to Harry.

"Hi," she said briskly, "good summer?" And without waiting for an answer, "Listen, I've been made Gryffindor Quidditch captain."

"Nice one," Harry said.

"Yeah well, we need a new keep now Oliver is left. Tryouts are on Friday at five o' clock and I want the whole team there, all right? Then we can see how the new person'll fit in."

"Okay," Harry responded as she departed. Then he said to his friends, "It's going to be weird without Wood yelling at us. He was a good keeper, though."

"Still, it won't hurt to have new blood, will it?" said Ron.

Harry looked at Ron, but before he could say anything, Professor McGonagall approached them. She handed them each a schedule and walked on.

Ron heaved a sigh. "What a day! History of Magic, double Potions, Muggle Studies, and double Defense against the Dark Arts." He groaned.

"Ron, quit complaining. This could be an interesting day," Hermione said.

Ron looked shocked. "Are you serious?"

"We have two new professors and we get to see their style of teaching."

"Of course," Ron said sarcastically. "I can't believe you made Harry and me take Muggle Studies."

"I didn't make you!" Hermione was extremely annoyed. "You two need the credits. I thought Muggle Studies would be the easiest compared to Ancient Runes."

"Yeah, but it's going to be boring. Harry grew up with muggles so he knows all about them. As for me, my dad is a muggle fanatic."

"Please, Ron. Just because your dad knows something about muggles, doesn't mean you know anything. Plus, I think the class will be rather interesting because the professor is new, young, and American."

Ron looked from Hermione to Harry. "What do you think of all of this?"

Harry felt awkward to be involved in a budding argument between his two friends. "Well, even though I do know most things about muggles, I think Hermione makes a good point. The professor is new. And when I met her on the train, I just felt sort of suspicious about her."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know. I just had this weird feeling about her."

"Harry, you can't pass judgment on a person for a feeling you had."

Harry kept his mouth shut. He couldn't explain in words what he meant and he didn't want Hermione anymore annoyed than she was now.

"At least she is pretty." Ron said as he looked at the staff at Professor Hartman. "Makes taking this class better." He took a big bite of toast.

Hermione rolled her eyes and looked as if she was preparing to say something.

Harry nipped that in the bud. "I think we should get going to History of Magic."

They agreed with this and walked off to Professor Binn's class

**Hours Later:**

History of Magic was boring as usual. Hermione was the only student in class to pay attention and take notes the whole time.

Double Potions was awful as usual, especially for Harry. Harry didn't do everything that was required for step three of making the Drought of Peace. As usual, Snape had to embarrass Harry in front of the whole class and vanish his potion so his could not get any credit. Snape gave the class twelve inches of parchment essay of the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion making.

The trio went to the Great Hall to have lunch. Harry was still upset about how Snape treated him. That's when Hermione and Ron began the discussion of whether Snape was good or not since he is in the Order. The discussion soon became an argument. Harry had enough and stormed out of the Great Hall. He decided to head for Muggle Studies. He climbed the marble staircase, two steps at a time, with his head still filled with anger.

He reached the Muggle Studies door to find it open. _Strange._ Harry was puzzled. It is usual that the classroom isn't open till around the time class will begin. Class wasn't going to begin until another forty minutes.

He stepped into the classroom. It had been decorated with many posters. Some posters had cheerful quotes, some had muggle inventions printed on them, and other showed different muggle historic events. He saw Professor Hartman working on something with her back turned to him.

"Damn it! Why won't you work?" She cussed at an object. She pushed a button or two and pulled a cord but still the object would not work. She sighed, "Fine, don't work! See if I care."

She turned around suddenly and saw Harry staring at her. She was caught off guard but quickly recovered and smiled. "Oh, hello. I didn't think anyone would be showing up so early." She looked at a muggle clock on the wall.

"Umm… Well… I wasn't really hungry so I thought I would wait outside the door. But, then I saw it was open so I came in." He lied a little bit, but she didn't need to know why he arrived so early.

"That's fine. You can take a seat." She smiled as Harry sat down. "As you can see I've been very busy decorating this room. And I guess you walked in as I was trying to get this darn thing to work." She pointed to a machine, obviously muggle.

Harry thinks he has seen on of those before but can't remember what they are call. Also, he remembered something Hermione told him. "I think muggle devises can't work in Hogwarts."

"True, but I put a spell on it that should allow me to turn it on, but it's just not…" She broke off and went back to the machine. She did a couple of things and it gave a groan and turned on. It made a noise like lawn mower. "Yay, it works!" Then the machine went quiet but the green light signifying that it was on was lit. Ruby looked over at Harry, "I put a quieting spell on it."

"What is it?"

"It's a portable generator. I'll talk more about it during one of the classes. But all you really need to know it that it will give electricity to things that need it." She plugged a stereo into the generator.

She looked over at Harry again. "I'm going to blare some music so feel free to do whatever you want." She turned the player on and music burst out of it. Ruby sat at her desk and sorted papers.

_She's kind of random. I don't know if that is good or bad yet._

Music filled the room. Harry decided that he might as well look over the homework he has. Binns gave them a long essay to write something about something in the Gaint War. He couldn't really remember. While Harry was trying to figure out his homework, Ruby was done sorting her papers and moved on to rummage through her polka dot bag.

It was three minutes till class was to begin. The class started to fill with students who were looking around the room and whispering about the machine that has music coming from it. Ruby seemed unaware that students were in her classroom. She was still going through her bag.

Ron and Hermione came over to Harry. "Don't worry. We're done arguing."

"Good," Harry said.

"Found it!" The professor breathed out louder than she meant to. The students fell silent as she placed the items she has been looking for on her desk. She looked around the room and saw all the students staring at her strangely. "I've been looking for this CD forever. Plus, I found the case for the CD that is playing now."

She stood up and looked to the clock. "I guess class starts now so everyone please take your seats." Students scrambled into a seat as Professor Hartman turned the music off. It seem uncomfortably quiet for the ticking of the clock resounded throughout the room.

Professor Hartman stepped in front of her desk and looked out at the class. She clasps her hands together and spoke. "Welcome to Muggle Studies. I'm Professor Hartman." She smiled at the students and unclasped her hands. "So, instead of getting started with studies, I think it would be better to get to know my students better and for you to know something about me."

The students were shocked. Teachers never do that at Hogwarts. They just jump into lessons and pile homework on them. Harry was interested in hearing what Professor Hartman has to say about herself.

"First off, I'm American. Just in case you didn't notice that I don't have your kind of accent. I'm twenty six years old. The school I went to when I was your age was a combination of magical and non-magical subjects. The reason for the study of both is that where I'm from is heavily populated with non-magical people or muggles as you call them. Oh, for a side note, where I'm from we don't call them muggles and plus I don't really like the word so I'll be using non-magical a lot.

She became lost in thought. "Where was I? Oh, yes. I remember now. I went to a non-magical college where I majored in English and History education. After I graduated, I went back to my school and taught fourteen to eighteen year olds. I taught American Literature and creative writing for three years. Now, here I am." She paused. "I just wanted to try something new and I thought Hogwarts would be fun."

A Ravenclaw girl in the second row, whom Harry couldn't think of her name, spoke up. "You didn't go to Hogwarts than, as a student?"

"Nope. I'm glad I didn't. I don't think I would have had as much fun or learned as much with your different houses segregating students from each other. My school we had no houses, it would have been tough with so little students. I mean, my class only had sixty four students. We were like one big family.

"Okay, I think you know enough about me. Now I want to get to know you guys. So, you guys are all 5th years' right?" Students nodded. "Good. We are going to go around the room and each of you is going to tell me your name, what house you are in, and some interesting thing or two about yourself. It could be anything. Like how many siblings you have, what hobbies you have, or something completely random. I just want to get to know you better and I need to learn names. Let's start with you." She pointed to a girl in the front row.

The girl looked nervous. "I'm Susan Bones and I'm in Hufflepuff. And I have a cat named Dolly."

Professor Hartman nodded and smiled at Susan and pointed to a boy next to her to introduce himself.

As each student introduced themselves, Harry realized that he and his two friends were the only Gryffindors in the class. Most were Hufflepuff.

The familiarize activity reached Hermione. "My name is Hermione Granger. I'm in Gryffindor. I love to read and my favorite class is Ancient Runes." She looked to Ron for he was next.

Ron couldn't believe that Hermione talked about reading and Ancient Runes for her tell all. But, that was Hermione for ya. "I'm Ron Weasley. I'm in Gryffindor and…" He couldn't think of anything until, "I have five brothers and one sister." He looked to the ceiling annoyed with himself for his turn was just as boring as Hermione's.

Harry quietly laughs for he knew what his friend was thinking. He stopped when he noticed the Professor's dark blue eyes on him. "I'm Harry Potter." He paused expecting her, like everyone else he meets, to show an expression of excitement and wonder. For he was the boy who lived and the boy that claimed Voldemort is back. But nothing of the sort happened, her eyes didn't waver. He continued, "I'm in Gryffindor. I'm the seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team." Harry was the last student to talk.

Professor Hartman's' eyes lit up when he mentioned Quidditch. "You're on the Quidditch team? That's cool. We don't play Quidditch back home so I'm excited to see a game to see what it is like."

Then she processed to recite everyone's names. She only messed up on a couple. "I'll work on your names more."

She turned and picked up the papers she was sorting earlier. She faced the class. "This paper that I'm going to give you gives an overview of the class, what I expect from you, and some topics that we may discuss. Also, I wrote where my office is and when I am most likely will be there. You can come in and ask me questions about class or about an assignment or just to talk.

"My assignments will be mostly written projects. But, not the boring writing like in your other classes where you explain why a certain spell is use for this situation and stuff like that. I believe a student learns more when they place their own thoughts on paper and not Bob Smith's." She noticed students' confused expressions. "Bob Smith is just a generic name to give an example of some guy that wrote in a book why a certain spell is use for a certain situation and you just copied it down. Anyway, my assignments will be a question, that doesn't have a define answer. It's more of an opinion answer and you will state your opinion and then give evidence to why you think that." Students looked unsure of her idea of how a written assignment should be.

"Don't fret. It's not that bad and I'll be available to help you along the way. You can come to me for help. I can help you think of ideas or give you books to use. I can also proof read your papers and tell you what to correct before you turn it in.

"So, for me to get to know your writing styles, I have an assignment for you." Couple students let out a groan. "Don't start freaking out on me. This is an easy paper. I want it to be three paragraphs long. First paragraph, tell me about yourself. Like your family, hobbies, sports, etc. Anything you want to share. The second paragraph will be about your school life. What that means is what your favorite subject is, what's your least favorite, and why you like or dislike a class, and what you do for fun here. Also, what you are thinking about doing in the future. Do you have an idea of what you want to do after school? And if you don't know, that's okay just write that down. The third paragraph I want you to write about what you expect from my class. Like, what do you want to do and what you want to learn about. Why you took this class. You can write that you think this class will be a waste of your time. Be honest, I won't hold anything against you. I just want to see your writing style, your voice.

"I feel that having a voice on paper is just as important as having one out loud. There have been many people who have changed the world with just their pen. Words are powerful things, on and off paper."

She smiled. "I'm done with my rant. I stapled the assignment to the paper about my class, so you remember what to write." She started to pass out her papers and some kids admired the metal staple in awe. "Oh, I'll explain staples later. Possibly next class. I hope my assignment isn't too tough." She laughs to herself as she finished passing out the papers. "That's it for my class. Have a good rest of the day."

Students started to file out. They were all buzzing about their strange new teacher who doesn't start teaching on the first day and who gives assignments to write about yourself. Many were still fingering the staple, trying to figure out how it got there and how it works.

The trio was on their way to double Defense when Harry recalled that he left his assignment sheet in Muggle Studies. He told his friends to go on and he'll meet them in class. He rushed back to the classroom. _I can't believe I left my sheet on the desk!_

He approached the room and heard music loudly playing. He hesitated slightly and entered. Professor Hartman was seated at her desk looking through her bag again. _Maybe she won't notice me._ He creeped to the desk and tried not to be noticed. He grabbed his paper and as he turned, he knocked his knee against the chair. "Ouch," he said under his breath and rubbed his knee.

Professor Hartman looked up. "Harry, are you alright?" She got up, and walked over towards him.

"Yeah, I forgot my paper and…" He showed her the paper in his hand.

"I wondered who forgot their paper. I'm glad you come back to get it." She paused. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, my knee's fine."

She interrupted him. "No, no, not that. I mean, you came to class so early and you looked really upset and rather angry. Then your friends came in and so what I'm trying to say is that I'm concerned and I worry a lot." Harry knew she was being sincere but he didn't want his Muggle Studies teacher, who he doesn't even know, trying to figure out what made him tick.

"Umm… Well, I would love to example Professor, but I have to hurry to Defense against the Dark Arts.

"Alright, see you in class in a couple days."

"Bye, Professor." He left her room and ran to class. He made it with five minutes to spare.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked.

Harry sat down as he panted. "I ran here…" He panted. "From the muggle studies room…" More panting. He eventually caught his breath.

He told them of what happened when he went back to get his paper. Hermione and Ron listened attentively. He finished by saying. "It was like she knew what happened between us during lunch."

"How would she know that? She could probably tell that you have been fluster and she was just voicing her concern for you." Hermione rationalize. She showed she didn't want to discuss the matter any further by looking through her book.

Harry felt frustrated that Hermione keeps dismissing his ideas, thoughts, and feelings about the new professor. There's something about Professor Hartman that just isn't right. He couldn't put his finger on it just yet but he will. But then again, it could be his paranoia getting the best of him. Hermione is right, he has only known her for a day. That's not much time to judge someone harshly, right? Though, he still had a gnawing feeling about it. _As long as she isn't like Moody last year then everything will be fine._

Professor Umbridge made her appearance. Little did Harry know that by ten minutes into class he would have argued with her about Voldemort, be sent to Professor McGonagall's office, and receive detentions with Professor Umbridge for the rest of the week.

* * *

**Did you like it? I know, Snape wasn't really in this chapter :( But, I needed to show you guys how she teaches. I tried to make her come off as awkward, interesting, and random. I use some of my past and current teachers as outlines for her. Yes, I had a teacher just like her, but it was a guy teacher. He's young (at the time 24, now 26 or 27) and the British Literature teacher in my senior year in high school. He would play music and be like: "Doesn't this song go with the theme of Macbeth?". He was random and said the funniest stuff. He's name is Mr. Orr and possibly I will have at the end of my chapters little Mr. Orr sayings. I think you guys would enjoy that.**

**I think it will be a while till I post the next chapter because I haven't written it yet, I've started school and I kind of have writers block. I know how the story will go but I'm having a hard time organizing it on paper. I'll work on that.**

**I'm writing a new story. Its a Severus/OC romance that takes place around their 6th and 7th year at Hogwarts. I written the first chapter, but I don't want to post it till I've written more.**

**Please review and Have a good day! :D**


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